Here are some fun things to do with your family and friends in the Smokies that will help you beat the heat this summer.
1. Visit the new
Oconaluftee Visitor Center just over the mountain from Gatlinburg, TN or Cherokee, NC. The park's retail partner, the Great Smoky Mountains Association, funded the construction of the facility ($3 million+), and donors to Friends of the Smokies made the amazing interactive interior museum exhibits possible ($500,000+). It's the first Park building to be financed entirely by its partners' support.
Pick up a telephone in the "Voices of the Smokies" area and hear a recording from the Park's oral history archives of Aden Carver retelling of the time his father sent him out looking for the family sheep, and he was stalked by a panther. He was twelve years old at that time. The museum exhibits encourage you to use all of your senses, including your imagination, as your mind's eye takes you to a different place in time to experience our national park.
Friends of the Smokies extends a huge "THANK YOU" to our North Carolina specialty plate owners, the Cherokee Preservation Foundation, contributors to the Oconaluftee Visitors Center donation box, the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area Partnership, The Cannon Foundation, the Eastern Band of Cherokees Community Foundation, and the Swain County Community Foundation. Your support made the museum exhibits possible.
2. Stop at Sugarlands Visitor Center and watch the 20-minute orientation film. Friends' members and supporters funded this film back in 1999.
3. While you're at any park visitor center, you can get some "retail therapy" by shopping in the Great Smoky Mountains Association's bookstores for your child's favorite black bear stuffed animal, great educational books for kids of all ages, as well as postcards, and wearable t-shirts, jackets and hats to demonstrate your support for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Association also sells a line of merchandise that benefits Friends of the Smokies and our Trails Forever program. Click here to buy one of our nifty hiking stick medallions, refrigerator magnets, or hiking shirts!
4. Enjoy a driving tour like the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail or the Cades Cove Loop Road. Roll the windows down, and keep an eye out for turkey, deer, and black bears.
5. Head to Deep Creek for a weekend at the campground. Hike to beloved waterfalls, take advantage of some of the few trails in the Smokies where mountain biking is permitted, or simply enjoy a picnic with your family and friends.
6. Take a night hike in Cades Cove with an expert Park interpreter. Meet at the orientation shelter near the start of the Cades Cove Loop Road by 9:00 p.m. Wear your bug repellent, and keep a flashlight handy as you experience the quietude of the Cove by moonlight. Take an afternoon nap, as you'll be hiking until 11;30 p.m. Posted hikes happen June 17th, 20th, 24th, and 27th; July 1st, 4th, 8th, 11th, 15th, 18th, 22nd, 25th, and 29th; August 1st, 5th, 8th, and 12th. (For more information, visit the trip planning section of the Park's website. Hover your mouse over the calendar to see what's happening on any date this summer.)
7. Spend an evening around the campfire with a real park ranger in Elkmont! These campfire experiences happen weekly on Friday and Saturday nights from June 17th through August 13th, starting at 9:00 p.m. The Elkmont ampitheater is accessible for persons using wheelchairs. (For more information, visit the trip planning section of the Park's website. Hover your mouse over the calendar to see what's happening on any date this summer.)
8. Cast your cares away and enjoy an early morning or evening of fishing in the Smokies' streams.
9. The park's website says temperatures at Clingman's Dome can be 10 to 20 degrees cooler than lower elevation spots like Knoxville or Asheville. Trek up to the tower on a clear day to enjoy amazing views!
10. Travel just north of the Oconaluftee Visitor Center to Mingus Mill, and watch it work. Demonstrations daily 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Chat with the miller and hear the rumble of the mill along with educational information about the way of life in this area before the Park became a reality.
And there's something great about all of these options (except what you choose to spend in the Park bookstores)...they're FREE!
